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Xiaomi, the same company that recently acquired Hugo Barra from Google’s Android team, announced its latest flagship smartphone today – the Mi3. It is clear that the device is not running stock Android as seen in the picture above, but is in fact Android 4.2+ covered heavily by Xiaomi’s custom skin.

It features top tier specs, but an amazingly low price of just $327 at full retail. In addition, the Mi3 is being marketed as the first phone in the world to be powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra 4 processor. The device features a 2GB of RAM, a 13MP camera with Sony’s Exmor RS and a 3,050mAh battery. Unfortunately, the device doesn’t appear to support any US 3G/4G LTE networks, so importing this specific model will do you little to no good.

Specs:

$327 price tag

5″ 1080p IPS LCD (441p) display.

1.8GHz quad-core Tegra 4 processor

2GB of RAM

Up to 64GB of storage

13MP back-facing camera (Sony Exmor RS unit)

Aluminium-magnesium inner frame

3,050mAh battery

Apparently, there is a rumor floating around that Xiaomi is planning a Snapdragon 800-powered model that could then be imported to the States. If that happens, would you be interested in China’s latest and greatest?

Looks like a cross between Nexus 7 and the iPod nano that was rounded on the sides but not the top and bottom.

PhoenixPath

Never going to hit the states; at least not through US carriers, and not running MIUI.

Unless Hugo can somehow work some magic and get Google to license Google Apps to Xiaomi. As it stands now, there are no Google Apps in MIUI…and no US carrier is likely to sell an Android device without Google Apps.

As much as I like the look and specs of this, I doubt we’ll see it on any carrier here by their choice.

Sporttster

SD card? HDMI out capable? VZW?? I’m interested….if not, forget it…

rthvk

Btw there is already a Snap800 model of this device running at 2.3 GHz, no plans to come to the States yet though.

Cowboydroid

Square phones with corners like that do not work well in pockets. Apparently, these manufacturers don’t know about people storing their devices in their pockets.

flosserelli

Holy crap. Those specs and only $327? Suddenly the N4 no longer offers the most bang for the buck. Too bad it will probably never leave China…but if it does, sign me up.

Rob Schoenfeld

That’s why Hugo was hired to expand Xiaomi global footprint..

flosserelli

I hope you’re right.

grittymcduff

Goes to show us hosed we are by the mark ups in our neck of the woods. Most phones don’t cost very much to make but because they know people will buy them they cost as much as laptop unless its subsidized through contracts. I understand though as these companies need to make their money, I don’t quit understand how they can justify charging twice the cost of manufacturing.

zurginator

When you look at their actual profit margins they aren’t very high – Bigger companies tend to get bogged down just because of their size. If Samsung sells 100 million phones , and makes $1 billion, that’s only a $10 profit per phone.

Bigger companies also tend to hire better engineers and designers, both of which are expensive. That, and they’re the ones with massive R&D departments, which are also a drain – companies like this tend to just copy what’s on the market.

And last but not least, Bigger bezels = more space to put things = cheaper to engineer. And well, if you look at this, that’s certainly a place where they cut corners.

M3D1T8R

Stupid backwards buttons copying Samsung’s fail button layout…why?

J.Ack

Fail? THat’s a WIN! Where they should be!

joseph barrientos

its got that MIUI lock screen!

Droid Ronin

It’s probably going to run MIUI V5 on top of Android 4.2. It may be possible that this OS even forks Android as it may not even run Google Play. I tried a MIUI ROM on my Nexus 4 and it looks like it had its own MIUI media and app store.

Tim242

HOLY F***ING BEZELS!

Elliot Kotis

No….it looks like a big Nokia.

michael arazan

I took a double take because I thought a nexus 7 had a phone ui in it

Tyler James Edward Hills

WHY HUGO WHY!?!? WAS THE GRASS THAT MUCH GREENER?! IT CERTAINLY DOESNT APPEAR TO BE

Pedro

Could you repeat that? Couldn’t quite hear…

Rob Schoenfeld

Because they are going to pay Hugo an assload of cash. Certainly more than one of us could imagine.

Elliot Kotis

And Google wasn’t, he left because of personal issues guys.

michael arazan

Get ready for the xiaomi Event with Hugo MC-ing why this is better than a Nexus device.

I agree – maybe the downvotes are because if a verizon-available Xiaomi hits, it may have a snapdragon

samosa king

WHY ISN’T IS GSM/LTE COMPATIABLE?!!! I need this baby.

samosa king

Closest thing to a nokia lumia with android

Droidzilla

Without the camera, it’s nothing but a Nokia KIRF.

Godzilla

Introducing the Kia of phone makers.

samosa king

wtf? Godzilla?!!!!

Godzilla

Rawr

j

He doesn’t need any encouragement

StuckOnVerizonForever

well, here’s our Nokia androids

Elliot Kotis

With Huga Barra, that will change.

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